{"id":{"repo_id":"toronto-retro","oai_identifier":"oai:utoronto.scholaris.ca:1807/128220"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/toronto-retro/oai:utoronto.scholaris.ca:1807/128220","repository":{"repo_id":"toronto-retro","name":"University of Toronto","base_url":"https://utoronto.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Minding the Mundane: The Critique of Political Participation from Epicurus to Montaigne","abstract":"Minding the Mundane theorizes an important way of thinking about politics both today and in the history of European political thought. I call this the mundane perspective and locate it particularly in Epicurus and his ancient followers, as well as (in modified form) in early modern European theorists influenced by Epicureanism. The mundane perspective is a way of looking at and talking about political activity, one which is critical of the lofty self-conceptions and aspirations most political communities create for themselves, instead encouraging attention to features of human nature that are often thought of as “mundane”: the needs of the body and the everyday needs of the soul for intellectual activity and commerce with other human beings. The Introduction argues for the importance of the mundane perspective in the history of political thought and as well as its relevance to contemporary political theory and practice. The first chapter draws out the political dimensions of Epicurus’ advice to his followers to “live unseen,” setting the stage for the readings to come by introducing the paradoxes of a political thought that is critical of political engagement. The next chapter draws out the mundane perspectives of two theorists often associated with the republican tradition: Thomas More and Niccolò Machiavelli. The final two chapters examine monarchical versions of the mundane perspective in the novels of François Rabelais and the essays of Michel de Montaigne. The mundane perspective calls us and our politics back down to earth. It is therefore of interest to scholars and citizens seeking to moderate the increasingly heated politics of contemporary liberal democracies, and to those seeking a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of political disengagement. Minding the Mundane contributes to our understanding of the republican tradition by recovering a normatively attractive rival to republicanism, and to contemporary political theory by arguing that contemporary neo-republicans and democratic theorists alike have been too influenced by the republican tradition. The mundane perspective offers a helpful corrective to the overly romantic conceptions of citizenship held by political theorists and sheds light on the widespread preference of liberal democratic citizens for private over public life.","abstract_html":"Minding the Mundane theorizes an important way of thinking about politics both today and in the history of European political thought. I call this the mundane perspective and locate it particularly in Epicurus and his ancient followers, as well as (in modified form) in early modern European theorists influenced by Epicureanism. The mundane perspective is a way of looking at and talking about political activity, one which is critical of the lofty self-conceptions and aspirations most political communities create for themselves, instead encouraging attention to features of human nature that are often thought of as “mundane”: the needs of the body and the everyday needs of the soul for intellectual activity and commerce with other human beings. The Introduction argues for the importance of the mundane perspective in the history of political thought and as well as its relevance to contemporary political theory and practice. The first chapter draws out the political dimensions of Epicurus’ advice to his followers to “live unseen,” setting the stage for the readings to come by introducing the paradoxes of a political thought that is critical of political engagement. The next chapter draws out the mundane perspectives of two theorists often associated with the republican tradition: Thomas More and Niccolò Machiavelli. The final two chapters examine monarchical versions of the mundane perspective in the novels of François Rabelais and the essays of Michel de Montaigne. The mundane perspective calls us and our politics back down to earth. It is therefore of interest to scholars and citizens seeking to moderate the increasingly heated politics of contemporary liberal democracies, and to those seeking a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of political disengagement. Minding the Mundane contributes to our understanding of the republican tradition by recovering a normatively attractive rival to republicanism, and to contemporary political theory by arguing that contemporary neo-republicans and democratic theorists alike have been too influenced by the republican tradition. The mundane perspective offers a helpful corrective to the overly romantic conceptions of citizenship held by political theorists and sheds light on the widespread preference of liberal democratic citizens for private over public life.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Black, Zachariah"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Political Science","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Beiner, Ronald"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-06","date_published":"2023-06","updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:27:58Z","subjects":[],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/1807/128220","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Beiner, Ronald"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Political Science"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Black, Zachariah"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2023-06"]},{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2023-06-27T16:45:27Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2023-06-27T16:45:27Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2023-06"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/1807/128220"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Minding the Mundane theorizes an important way of thinking about politics both today and in the history of European political thought. I call this the mundane perspective and locate it particularly in Epicurus and his ancient followers, as well as (in modified form) in early modern European theorists influenced by Epicureanism. The mundane perspective is a way of looking at and talking about political activity, one which is critical of the lofty self-conceptions and aspirations most political communities create for themselves, instead encouraging attention to features of human nature that are often thought of as “mundane”: the needs of the body and the everyday needs of the soul for intellectual activity and commerce with other human beings. The Introduction argues for the importance of the mundane perspective in the history of political thought and as well as its relevance to contemporary political theory and practice. The first chapter draws out the political dimensions of Epicurus’ advice to his followers to “live unseen,” setting the stage for the readings to come by introducing the paradoxes of a political thought that is critical of political engagement. The next chapter draws out the mundane perspectives of two theorists often associated with the republican tradition: Thomas More and Niccolò Machiavelli. The final two chapters examine monarchical versions of the mundane perspective in the novels of François Rabelais and the essays of Michel de Montaigne. The mundane perspective calls us and our politics back down to earth. It is therefore of interest to scholars and citizens seeking to moderate the increasingly heated politics of contemporary liberal democracies, and to those seeking a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of political disengagement. Minding the Mundane contributes to our understanding of the republican tradition by recovering a normatively attractive rival to republicanism, and to contemporary political theory by arguing that contemporary neo-republicans and democratic theorists alike have been too influenced by the republican tradition. The mundane perspective offers a helpful corrective to the overly romantic conceptions of citizenship held by political theorists and sheds light on the widespread preference of liberal democratic citizens for private over public life."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Minding the Mundane: The Critique of Political Participation from Epicurus to Montaigne"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Beiner, Ronald"],"dc:contributor.department":["Political Science"],"dc:creator":["Black, Zachariah"],"dc:date":["2023-06"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2023-06-27T16:45:27Z"],"dc:date.available":["2023-06-27T16:45:27Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2023-06"],"dc:description.abstract":["Minding the Mundane theorizes an important way of thinking about politics both today and in the history of European political thought. I call this the mundane perspective and locate it particularly in Epicurus and his ancient followers, as well as (in modified form) in early modern European theorists influenced by Epicureanism. The mundane perspective is a way of looking at and talking about political activity, one which is critical of the lofty self-conceptions and aspirations most political communities create for themselves, instead encouraging attention to features of human nature that are often thought of as “mundane”: the needs of the body and the everyday needs of the soul for intellectual activity and commerce with other human beings. The Introduction argues for the importance of the mundane perspective in the history of political thought and as well as its relevance to contemporary political theory and practice. The first chapter draws out the political dimensions of Epicurus’ advice to his followers to “live unseen,” setting the stage for the readings to come by introducing the paradoxes of a political thought that is critical of political engagement. The next chapter draws out the mundane perspectives of two theorists often associated with the republican tradition: Thomas More and Niccolò Machiavelli. The final two chapters examine monarchical versions of the mundane perspective in the novels of François Rabelais and the essays of Michel de Montaigne. The mundane perspective calls us and our politics back down to earth. It is therefore of interest to scholars and citizens seeking to moderate the increasingly heated politics of contemporary liberal democracies, and to those seeking a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of political disengagement. Minding the Mundane contributes to our understanding of the republican tradition by recovering a normatively attractive rival to republicanism, and to contemporary political theory by arguing that contemporary neo-republicans and democratic theorists alike have been too influenced by the republican tradition. The mundane perspective offers a helpful corrective to the overly romantic conceptions of citizenship held by political theorists and sheds light on the widespread preference of liberal democratic citizens for private over public life."],"dc:description.degree":["Ph.D."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/1807/128220"],"dc:title":["Minding the Mundane: The Critique of Political Participation from Epicurus to Montaigne"],"dc:type":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:27:58Z"}